


We're Friends, Really

by SupernaturalPhoenix



Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, sick Azazel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-19 20:28:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19980046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SupernaturalPhoenix/pseuds/SupernaturalPhoenix
Summary: Based on brilligspoons and pocky_slash's Daycare 'Verse, where Charles runs a mutant daycare and Erik is an engineer.Essentially, Azazel gets sick at work and Erik has to take care of his best friend.





	We're Friends, Really

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pocky_slash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocky_slash/gifts), [brilligspoons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brilligspoons/gifts).
  * Inspired by [My Heart Goes Sha-la-la-la-la](https://archiveofourown.org/works/220023) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 



Erik was more than used to Azazel teleporting into the office just a minute before they were actually meant to start. The reek of sulphur and smoke was always accompanied by some witty comment to start of the day's bickering. Erik was less used to the poof of smoke and nothing more than a bleary grunt. Azazel slumped against the closest table as he materialised. Erik snorted. "Rough night?"

Azazel didn't rise to the bait and just let out a weary groan. "Yes." Erik rolled his eyes but said nothing. Whatever Azazel had been up to be his business- and Erik didn't really care. Azazel straightened himself with a flicker of... pain across his face. And then it was gone. Erik wasn't sure if it was even there."Go and get the schematics from downstairs."

Rolling his eyes, Azazel teleported away, and Erik had put the whole exchange out of his mind by the time Azazel returned a few minutes later. After going over the schematics twice, they started working on the circuitry; a wonderful breeze of a task for Erik after the exhaustion of Raven's birthday the previous weekend. They work in a companionable silence; interrupted only by Azazel's gusty sighs and fidgeting. Erik looked up at him several times to glare at him, but Azazel never noticed. He lumbered through his work with a pinched, inward expression. After an hour or so of this, Erik decided he'd had enough. "Do you want coffee?” he asked.

Azazel startled, raising his head to look at Erik with unfocused eyes. "No." He didn't even question Erik getting the coffee- which he never did. And that sent alarms ringing in Erik's head.

"Are you sure?" Erik pressed, "You look like need it."

This got a weak chuckle out of Azazel; but then he curled inwards slightly and grimaced. "Why, Lehnsherr, is that concern?"

Erik scoffed. "No. It's an insult- you look terrible."

Azazel rolled his eyes and waved his tail weakly in Erik's direction. Wincing, he whipped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "Not today, Lehnsherr," he grumbled, "I am not in the mood."

Huffing frustratedly, Erik stormed out of the room and down the hall to the coffee machine. Several interns scampered away as he approached. Erik stirred the coffee and turned to go back to the office. But he paused and- curing his sentimentality- grabbed a cup of water for Azazel. Said annoyance was completely slumped on the table, arms and tail wrapped around his stomach. The circuit board was completely pushed to the side. Erik cleared his throat as he entered and set the water down in front of Azazel. "Wake up, Kozlov. Or I'll pour this on you."

Sluggishly, Azazel raised his head from the table and mumbled, "Asshole." But he took a few sips of the water anyway, before setting it on the floor to continue with the circuits; a strangely difficult task that day. Soon enough Erik had finished his half of the circuits and was impatiently drumming his fingers on the table top. "Are you going to finish today or not?" he snarked.

Running his hand over his face, Azazel glared at Erik. "Leave me alone. I don't want to do this tod-" He broke of suddenly, clapping a hand to his mouth. He shuddered and groaned before teleporting away.

Erik was left staring at the empty air. He huffed and took over Azazel's circuits. He was nearly finished when Azazel returned. The red mutant appeared in the doorway, ghastly pale with a sheen of sweat on his skin. His hunched form staggered over to the table where he collapsed into his chair. Erik wordlessly passed the water over. He could smell Azazel's breath from across the table and it reeked- telling him exactly where Azazel had gone. Azazel sipped slowly as his panting slowed. "I apologise for the interruption. Now that I'm back, we can finish these circuits and move on."

Erik arched an eyebrow but didn't protest. "Right." The metal bender ended up doing most of the work as Azazel could barely focus on anything. He managed to get a few things done, mostly with prompting from Erik. But eventually it was finished. Azazel flopped wearily onto the table, his head in his arms. Erik growled. He had had enough of Azazel slacking off.

"That's it! Get your head together, Kozlov! I'm not having us get behind on this project because you're hungover!" He shot to his feet and started storming away.

He heard Azazel stand shakily behind him, groaning softly as he did so. "I'm... I am not hungover." He started after Erik but, with a snide grin, the German used his powers to pull a chair in front of Azazel. The teleporter tripped and fell. But then he let out an agonised yell that had Erik leaping to his side. Azazel whimpered and trembled: arms and tail wrapped around his middle. "Azazel, are you alright?"

Azazel shook his head. "No." he moaned. "It hurts."

Erik bit his lip, hands hovering over Azazel's shoulders. "You're not hungover, are you?"

His only reply was a pained, frustrated growl. Despite the situation, Erik rolled his eyes. "What's wrong? What hurts?"

"Stomach." Azazel choked out. The tip of his tail circled the right side of his stomach. Something dinged in Erik's mind but he couldn't place it. Cautiously, he pressed a hand at the spot Azazel had indicated. The effect was immediate; Azazel screamed a cry of pain and slapped Erik's hand away with his tail. But Erik knew all he needed from the swollen skin. "Azazel, I think it's your appendix. We need to get you to a hospital." He pulled out his phone, but Azazel stopped him.

" **Nyet**!" Azazel gasped. "Do not call an ambulance. **Pozhaluysta**!"

Erik let out a heavy sigh. But he couldn't argue- not when he would make the same choice if the roles were reversed. He could hardly begrudge Azazel his dignity. But that still left one small problem. "Fine. But don't think you're teleporting there. I'm driving you."

Azazel nodded and began to push himself up. It a painful, laborious process, with Azazel's moans punctuating it. Erik had to more or less lift Azazel to his feet when it became clear the Russian couldn't get further than sitting upright on his own. Azazel groaned miserably, doubling over as soon as he was standing. Erik pulled one Azazel's arms over his shoulder and wrapped his own around Azazel's waist; careful to avoid Azazel's appendix. Erik startled as something wrapped around his torso. He looked down to see a red tail curled around him. He shrugged and started the painful trek to his car. Every step was punctuated by Azazel's whimpers and moans.

Erik was just thankful that they hadn't crossed paths with anyone. Or he was, at least, until they reached the elevator. Where Tony and Pepper were arguing. The doors were just about to shut when Tony gave a startled exclamation of, "Jesus!", and opened the doors again.

Pepper followed his gaze and gasped. "What happened?"

Erik panted for a moment before replying, "His appendix."

Tony rushed forward and took Azazel's other arm to help him into the elevator quicker. Azazel let out a series of pained gasps as he was leaned against the wall. Pepper placed a cool hand on his heated forehead. "Have you called an ambulance?"

Erik leaned against the wall to get his breath back as the elevator started going down to the ground floor. Azazel was heavy, and barely supported his own weight. "No. He doesn't want one."

Pepper narrowed her eyes. Erik suddenly realised how she was able to control Tony. The redhead stared Erik down for several moments before pulling out her phone.

"He said he didn't want an ambulance." Erik protested.

Rolling her eyes, Pepper showed him her phone; with a map to the nearest hospital. "Go on. I know when not to pick a battle."

The elevator dinged as they touched down on the ground floor. Erik hefted Azazel upright again and prepared for the long walk to the car. "Tony, help Erik. I'll meet you at your next meeting." Pepper ordered.

"Yes Pepper." Tony droned but was already taking some of Azazel's weight. The red mutant didn't seem aware of anything going on around him. The only acknowledgement to anything he gave was the groans and whimpers of pain as he was moved. The walk to the car was agony, for all involved. Eventually they made it to Erik's car, unwound Azazel's tail from Erik and managed to ease Azazel onto the backseat. With one last moan, he went limp. "Shit." Erik cursed as he bucked Azazel across the seat. There was no way he would be able to get Azazel sitting up; especially with his tail in the way.

Tony patted his shoulder. "You get him to the hospital safe, okay?"

Erik nodded as he jumped into the driver's seat and pulled out onto the road, using Pepper's map to find the quickest route. He found himself cursing the decision to listen to Azazel; an ambulance wouldn't get stuck in traffic. Pushing the speed limit just a little, Erik managed to get to the hospital in record time. He parked quickly and heaved the unconscious, sweat soaked Azazel out of the car- practically dragging him into the ER. Azazel was admitted almost immediately, and Erik finally felt like he could breathe.He sank into a waiting room chair as Azazel was whisked away. Erik pulled out his phone. There was a text from Pepper telling him to stay with Azazel and not come back to work. Erik sighed. He scrolled through his contact list and thanked Charles for making him save Janos's number.

"Janos Quested."

"Janos, its Erik. I'm at the hospital."

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, but Azazel's being operated on."

" _WHAT_?!"

Erik sighed heavily. "Should I have led with that?"

"What is wrong with my husband?"

"His appendix. Probably a rupture."

"I'm on my way now."

Erik listed of the address of the hospital and settled down to wait. Reaching out with his mind, he called for Charles.

_'Erik, are you alright_?'

' _Yeah. Rough day_.'

' _Do you want to talk about it_?'

' _I had to drive Azazel to the hospital and now I'm waiting for his surgery to finish_.'

' _What? Oh dear- Sean, Alex no- sorry, love. Is he alright? Have you called Janos_?'

' _Yes, Charles, I called Janos. He's on his way And I'm fine. Now go deal with menacing little children_.'

' _Alright. I'll see you later_.'

Erik slouched wearily as Charles's mind pulled away from his and he was left alone in the stark hospital waiting room. After a while, when Erik had long since stopped paying attention to anything around him, a sudden gust of wind yanked him back into awareness. Erik looked up to see Janos striding into the waiting room, wind whipping his hair and clothes. Erik raised an eyebrow. Azazel had mentioned Janos's mutation before, but he'd never seen Janos actually use his powers. Said marketing 'imbecile' made a nervous beeline for Erik. "How is he? Have you heard anything?" Janos babbled.

For once, Erik couldn't bring himself to chastise him. "No. It's only been half an hour. But he was unconscious by the time we got here."

Janos paced back and forth in front of Erik, running his hands through his hair. "I should've noticed something- no, I did. He was barely eating, he was tired. I didn't say anything- why didn't I say anything?"

Sighing frustratedly, Erik pulled Janos to a stop by the metal zips on his jacket and trousers. "Stop. Azazel's stubborn; we both know it. Even if you did try and talk to him, he wouldn't have listened. Face it, you married a work til he drops kind of man."

Janos rolled his eyes. "And that is exactly why you two get along so well."

After that, the two lapsed into a companionable silence and Janos resumed his pacing. After another hour, a very flustered Charles with a giggling Raven in hand appeared and hurried over to them. Erik jumped to his feet and Raven tackled his legs as Charles pressed a hasty kiss to his lips. "I got here as quickly as I could. Have you heard anything at all? Do you know what was wrong?"

Janos just shook his head uselessly. "It's probably appendicitis, but no one has told us anything yet."

And then came another round of waiting. Janos resumed his pacing; this time with an excited Raven at his heels. The little girl was excited by the change in routine and seeing Janos, and even Charles's best efforts couldn't entirely distract her. And then finally, a full two hours after Azazel was admitted, a doctor approached them. "Azazel Kozlov?"

Janos's head shot up. "Yes, I'm his husband."

The doctor's eyes softened a little. "Mr Kozlov has been moved to the ward and should be waking up from the anaesthesia soon. The surgery went well- but since his appendix did rupture, we had to drain it. This will extend his recovery time, but we can talk about that later. I'm sure you want to see your husband now."

Janos nodded eagerly and turned to Erik and Charles. Before he could say anything, Charles interrupted. "Don't worry; we'll be on our way now we know Azazel will be okay. Give him our best."

Erik just rolled his eyes but added, "Tell him I'm glad he didn't die."

Two days later, Erik opened the door and entered the apartment awkwardly. He had never been to Janos and Azazel's apartment before and the visit went drastically against his antisocial nature. "Lehnsherr? Is that you?" Azazel called from somewhere inside.

Erik crept along until he found the living room. A tired looking Azazel was laid out across the sofa, bundled under a blanket with a pillow pressed to his stomach. "I wasn't sure you would come."

"Yeah, well, you drooled on my backseat. What was I supposed to do? Not get you back?"

Azazel chuckled then winced. "Ah, that still hurts. Sit, please." His tail pointed at the chair across from the sofa before returning to lazily flicking back and forth over the side of the sofa. Erik sat.

"I suppose I should thank you for... well, listening to me, and for getting me to the hospital."

Rolling his eyes, Erik held up a hand. "Shut up, Kozlov. I don't need to know any of that- I did what any person with a brain would have done. What you need to know is that you're an absolute moron. You should have told your husband you felt like crap and done something about it, instead of soldiering on like an idiot."

Azazel let out a deep sigh. "I know. And I've already apologised to Janos for my actions. But don't think you wouldn't have done the same thing if it were you."

"You're right but it was you, not me, so I'm still going to lecture you. And off the record, I'm glad I don't have to replace you." Erik snarked, softer than normal.

Azazel grinned mischievously. "Good. You would never find anyone else to put up with you.

Erik said nothing, just rolled his eyes yet again.

"You know," Azazel said, "for all your talk of hating other people, we're friends really."

"Yes fine. We're friends. Happy?"

"Yes." Azazel replied smugly and Erik wanted to face palm. But having a friend was good, said friend was healthy again, so the least Erik could do was enjoy it. And he would.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:  
> .No  
> .Please


End file.
